              When the War Stood Still in Galveston

    by Duncan Howard, Editor, The Texas Mason, in the Spring 1994 issue

The recapture of Galveston by Confederate forces is little known in the annals
of war. But Masons, wherever dispersed, take a special pride and have a 
certain feeling when the war stood still in Galveston while Worshipful Master 
Philip C. Tucker, Jr. opened Harmony Lodge No. 6 and conducted the Masonic 
burial of a Northern Brother, "appreciating the spirit and force of Masonic 
ties."  It is a Masonic legacy for all Masons to cherish until time shall be 
no more.

By way of background, the Union Navy established a blockade of Port Galveston 
on October 6, 1862.  Later, on Christmas Day, Federal troops landed and placed 
the entire island under Northern control.  In the meantime, Texas gained a
battle-tested hero as Confederate General John Bankhead Magruder, nicknamed
"Prince John" for his dramatic flair and goldbraided pomp, was transferred to
command the War Department of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona on October 10, 
1862.

General Magruder, a West Pointer, had been thrice promoted in the Mexican War
for "gallant and meritorious conduct" and was credited with directing and
winning the first land battle in the Civil War for Southern Independence.
Describing the battle, the Richmond Dispatch reported that Magruder had met a
flag of truce in the conflict and granted the removal of a slain Federal
officer.  In parting, he had shaken hands with a Union Lieutanant and said, 
"We part as friends, but on the field of battle we meet as enemies."  Although
politicians might differ, General Magruder had exprssed the feeling of most
Masons and most combat soldiers of either North or South.  And, it is
interesting to note that Magruder had become an Entered Apprentice Mason in 
San Diego Lodge No. 35 while stationed in California after the Mexican War, 
but his advancement was stopped due to a duel with the Lodge Treasurer.

When General Magruder arrived in Texas, he recognized that the economy of the
state was held hostage by Union blockades along the Texas coast and 
immediately planned a land/sea attack to retake Galveston Island.  In 
preparation, two small steamboats - the Bayou city and the Neptune - 
were fitted with guns and armored with bales of cotton which Magruder said 
gave "an appearance of protection" to the volunteers who manned them.  Then, 
under cover of New Year's Eve night of 1862, the cotton-clad boats with 
makeshift tenders cruised to rendezvous with eight northern ships in Galveston 
Harbor.  At the same time a land force of Texas voIumteers secretly crossed 
Galveston Bay on the railway bridge that still connected the island to the 
mainland and stationed themselves in a semicircle around Khun's Wharf where 
Union troops were garrisoned.  No doubt, the Union soldiers were startled from 
sleep about three o'clock in the morning on New Year's Day, 1863, when General 
Magruder fired the first cannon shot as a signal for the Battle of Galveston 
to begin.  After firing the cannon, a little of "Prince John" slipped out as a 
jovial Magruder remarked to his close-by troops, "Now I've done my duty as a 
private and I will go now and attend my duties as a General."

The outcome of the battle centered around the Union ship Harriet Lane, a 
copper-sheathed gunboat commanded by Commander Jonathen Mayhew Wainwright, 
Jr., the forty-one year old son of Protestant Episcopal Bishop Jonathan Mayhew 
Wainwright, Sr., of New York and the grandfather of Masonic General Jonathan
Mayhew Wainwright III of World War II fame. The second in command was 
Lieutenant Commander Edward Lea, a graduate of the United States Naval 
Academy, Annapolis, Md., in 1855, and a family relation of Margaret Moffette 
Lea Houston, wife of the Masonic General Sam Houston.

Upon entering the harbor, the Bayou City and Neptune opened fire and attempted
to ram the Harriet Lane.  The Harriet Lane returned fire in like kind and sank
the Neptune in the shallow bay.  Finally, the Bayou City managed to ram the
Harriet Lane in such a way that the vessels locked together.  At this time the
Harriet Lane was boarded and captured during hand-to-hand combat.  Following 
the seizure of the Harriet Lane, a flag of truce was sent to the Union 
Commodore Renshaw whose flagship Westfield had run aground.  In truce, General 
Magruder demanded surrender of the entire fleet and gave three hours for 
consideration. After demands were met, the Northern ships were brought to 
anchor, flying the white flags of truce.  In this interim, Commodore Renshaw 
was killed in an explosion that he set to scuttle his flagship Westfield, and 
the Union gunboats, Clifton and Owasco, steamed from the harbor with their 
white flags still flying. Seeing they were abandoned by their fleeing fleet, 
the Union soldiers fighting at Kuhn's Wharf'accepted unconditional surrender.  
The Battle of Galveston was over and the island remained in Southern control 
until the end of the Confederate Nation.

At the time the Confederates boarded the Harriet Lane both Wainwright and Lea
refused to surrender and both fought valiantly to save their ship.  Commander
Wainwright sustained injuries to his head and left thigh before he was killed 
by a shot to the head from the Mason, Commodore Leon Smith, Commander of the 
Bayou City and a brother of Past Grand Master of Indiana Caleb B. Smith, who 
served as Secretary of the Interior in Lincoln's first cabinet.  Mortally 
wounded, Lieutenant Commander Edward Lea lay dying on the ship deck.  When the
Confederate Major Albert Miller Lea boarded the ship, he recognized his son
Edward, whom he had not seen since the war began, and rushed to comfort him.    
As he knelt by his son, Edward, barely conscious, whispered to a shipmate, 
"My father is here." Then, he died.

Masonic prisoners from the Harriet Lane vouched to Confederate Masons that
Wainwright was a Mason in good standing.  Although they asked nothing for
themselves, they requested a Masonic burial for their late Commander and 
Masonic Brother.  When this information reached Philip C. Tucker, Jr., a Major 
on Magruder's staff and Worshipful Master of Harmony Lodge No. 6 in Galveston,
plans were made to open the Lodge for Masonic burial.

As soon as Brother Tucker reported to the Confederate headquarters located in
the Roman Catholic Bishop's palace, General Magruder accosted him with: "Major
Tucker, I hear you intend to bury the remains of Commander Wainwright tomorrow
with Masonic honors, is this true?"  Major Tucker saluted and answered, "Yes,
Sir. And I hope General Magruder will give it military honors."

The reply was, "Who in H--l ever heard of burying a dead enemy with Masonic 
and military honors?"

The response was, "General Magruder, when Lieutenant Colonel Rogers of the
Second Texas fell, the Federal authorities gave the body Masonic and military
burial (unconfirmed) and it is said that you are never to be outdone in 
courtesy to an friend or enemy."

The rebuttal was, "Not by a d---d sight.  Colonel DeBray (a Mason and former
Secretary of Austin Lodge No. 12), turn out your regiment for escort duty
tomorrow at the Masonic burial of Lieutenant Commander Wainwright of the 
Harriet Lane.

On January 2, 1863, Harmony Lodge opened and resolved, "that the members of 
this lodge, appreciating the spirit and force of Masonic ties, will not allow 
their feelings and prejudice and love of righteous cause to obliterate from 
their hearts and minds the merciful teachings of the Order; that it does not 
conflict with their duties as patriotic citizens to respond to calls of mercy 
by a prostrate political foe, or to administer the last rite of the Order to 
the remains of a Mason of moral worth, although yesterday they met as an armed 
enemy in mortal combat in which the deceased parted with his life;..."

The lodge minutes continue, "Whereupon the Lodge was called upon to bury the
dead.  A public procession formed in which appeared both friends and foes
wearing the insignia of the Order, and acompanied with a proper military 
escort under the command of Col. and Brother H.B. Debray, among which was the 
Major General Commanding J. Bankhead Magruder.  The body of Bro. Wainwright 
was borne to its grave in the Episcopal Cemetery where it was deposited with 
rites of Mason and military.  Lodge called from burying the dead and closed in 
due form."

Although the preceding quotes do not include reference to Lieutenant Commander
Lea, his body was borne to the cemetery and buried in a single grave with
Commander Wainwright.  In his official report of the Battle of Galveston to
President Jefferson Davis, the Entered Apprentice Mason General Magruder 
wrote, "Captain Wainwright and Lieutenant Lea of the Federal Navy were buried 
with Masonic and military honors in the same grave; Major Lea, of the 
Confederate Army, father of Lieutenant Lea, performing the service."  In 
addition, the book, History of DeBray's Regiment, includes the statement, "the 
bodies of Lieutenant Commander Wainwright, killed in action, and of Lieutenant 
Lea were buried in the Galveston Cemetery with military and Masonic honors, 
the Confederate father reading over his Federal son's grave the solemn funeral 
service of the Episcopal Church. The witnesses of that heart-rending scene can 
never forget it."

After graduation from West Point, Albert Miller Lea was assigned to frontier
duty at Fort Des Moines on topographical duty. Later, his published notes gave
the state of Iowa its name.  Although the Grand Lodge of Iowa has no record of
Masonic membership of Albert Miller Lea, it supplied an article of the Iowa
Historical Society written by Lea just before his death.  The article confirms
his service in the Battle of Galveston and states, "I met in battle my oldest
son, and said the Grand Service of the Church over his Captain, Wainwright, 
son of the late Bishop of New York, and himself, buried in one grave."

Since Lea makes no mention of the Masonic burial of his son, perhaps it is 
more correct to put on record that Harmony Lodge extended the courtesy of 
escorting both Wainwright and Lea to the cemetery, conducted the Masonic 
burial of Wainwright, and attended the Episcopal Church service that committed 
both Federal officers to rest in a single grave.  Following the war, the body 
of Wainwright was moved to New York and interred near his father, Bishop
Wainwright, in the cemetery of Trinity Church.  No mention is discovered 
whether the honor of Masonic burial was conducted during his second burial.

July 9, 1994, marks the hundredth year since Philip C. Tucker, Jr., walked
among Masonic brothers.  Yet, his Masonic labors live on and his achievements
continue to strengthen Freemasonry in general, and in Texas, in particular.

Brother Tucker was born on February 14, 1826, in Vergennes, Vermont.  There he
spent his early life and was educated as an attorney by reading law in his
father's office and beginning practice under his father's guidance.

Upon attaining the age of twenty-one, Philip was raised a Mason in Dorchester
Lodge in 1847.  During the next five years, he worked three years as assistant
Grand Secretary, served twice as Worshipful Master of Dorchester Lodge, and 
was District Deputy Grand Master for three terms.  In addition, he joined York 
Rite Freemasonry and served as Thrice Illustrious Master of his Council.

In 1852, just as he turned twenty-six years old, Brother Tucker moved to
Galveston, Texas, where he established a successful law practice, became 
active in the Trinity Episcopal Church, was community leader and affiliated 
with Harmony Lodge and the York Rite Bodies in Galveston. Later, he affiliated 
with Tucker Lodge No. 297 that was named in his honor.  He was Worshipful 
Master of Harmony for six years, Commander of San Felipe Commandery for 
fourteen years, and served as High Priest of San Felipe Chapter.

In Grand Bodies, he became Grand Commander of the Commandery of Texas in 1864,
Grand High Priest of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Texas in 1865, and Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas in 1869.

His continued enthusiasm for Masonry prompted Brother Tucker to accept an
invitation from Grand Commander Albert Pike of the Supreme Council, 33, of 
the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, to become 
involved in introducing the Scottish Rite System of Freemasonry into Texas.  
On February 4-5, 1867, Brother Tucker traveled to New Orleans where the 
Scottish Rite degrees were communicated to him by dispensation from Grand 
Commander Pike. At the same time, he was commissioned as Deputy Grand 
Inspector General in Texas. Later, on May 17, 1867, Deputy Grand Inspector 
General Tucker granted Letters Temporary for the organization of San Felipe 
de Austin Lodge of Perfection in Galveston, Texas.

Grand Inspector General Tucker was an active and productive member of the
Supreme Council in Washington, D.C., and on July 28, 1893, he was elected as
Grand Commander.  At the age of sixty-seven, he moved to Washington to perform
the duties of Grand Commander.  But, unfortunately, his tenure was suddenly
terminated by death on July 9, 1894.  His body was returned home to Galveston
and buried with Masonic honors not far from the grave in which he placed
Lieutenant Commanders Wainwright and Lea and where Lieutenant Lea still rests.

Brother Tucker was essential to the fulfillment of the Masonic legacy when the
war stood still in Galveston.  Apparently, under his leadership in the years 
of the Civil War for Southern Independence, Harmony Lodge is the only Lodge, 
North or South, to conduct the Masonic burial service for a Mason killed in 
mortal combat as an enemy.

What pride and respect we hold for the Masons of yesteryear who held Masonry
firm and stable, "appreciating the spirit and force of Masonic ties," while
states separated, churches divided and families split over political
differences.

As word of the planned Masonic burial spread over town, most citizens and some
Masons denounced it as "Treason to the Confederacy." And certainly, discussion
of Tucker's birth up north added fuel to the beginning fire which was quickly
quenched when Magruder added support to Tucker and the Lodge by taking 
military honors to the burial service.  No one could accuse General Magruder 
with "Treason to the Confederacy" and, suddenly, the Masonic burial with 
military honors seemed the thing to do.

General Magruder had a sad life following the war.  Instead of surrendering, 
he went to Mexico and served as a general in the army of Maximilian.  After 
the defeat of Maximilian, he returned to Houston.  There, almost in poverty, 
he died in 1871 and was buried in the cemetery lot of a friend.  Later, 
spirited citizens of Galveston wanted Magruder buried on the island he saved. 
They had his body moved to Galveston where it waited for several years in a 
funeral vault for enough money to be contributed for final interment.

              
